Tennessee football vs. Purdue report card: Do Vols get higher grades than the refs?

NASHVILLE — Tennessee football ended Josh Heupel's first season with a bowl loss Thursday.

The Vols (7-6) fell to Purdue 48-45 in overtime in the Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium. It ended after a controversial call ruled Tennessee running back Jaylen Wright didn't score a touchdown on fourth down in its overtime possession, allowing Purdue (9-4) to win it with a field goal on its overtime possession.

Here are grades from the bowl:

Offense

Tennessee set the program record for single-season scoring when Jabari Small scored UT’s third first-quarter touchdown. Then the Vols slumped until the final minutes of regulation, using a fantastic finish to total 663 yards offensively.

Tennessee was brilliant and maddening offensively, continuing a trend. The Vols dominated the first quarter, which they did all year. UT finished with a 190-51 first-quarter margin. They stunk in the second quarter, totaling 70 total yards and failing to score with a midgame slump that proved costly.

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Hendon Hooker and Cedric Tillman were terrific early, linking for a pair of first-quarter touchdowns. The Vols looked unstoppable. Small put UT ahead 21-7 at the 3:29 mark. Tennessee did not reach the end zone again until the first drive of the third quarter.

Then the Vols scored in a hurry twice in the final 3:37 to take the game to overtime. But UT couldn't score in overtime and lost.

Grade: C-plus

Defense

Jeremy Banks had a career day and Tennessee's defense put it in position to win with a strong third quarter. The junior linebacker had a career-best 20 tackles. He also had a critical pass break-up in the fourth quarter.

The Vols recorded interceptions on back-to-back drives in the third. Defensive end Byron Young dropped into coverage for the first, then safety Trevon Flowers had the second on a poor throw from Purdue quarterback Aidan O'Connell.

But Tennessee allowed 627 yards, including 534 passing yards. It also allowed two touchdowns in the final 4:58, both of which the offense responded to. Tennessee also had a handful of defensive pass interference penalties, including in the fourth quarter that aided Purdue drives.

Tennessee’s defense held strong through much of the second quarter, bending but not breaking until the final drive on a short field. The Vols held Purdue to three second-quarter field goals in the red zone. Banks was to credit for one the most impressive holds when he sacked O’Connell on third-and-2 at the 2.

The defense allowed a touchdown with 19 seconds before halftime after a UT turnover gave Purdue the ball at the 29.

UT finished with three interceptions.

Grade: C-plus

Special teams

Chase McGrath made one field goal, a 30-yarder in the third quarter. Paxton Brooks didn’t have his best day punting, but had a clutch catch of a high snap on the field goal.

McGrath missed a 56-yarder at the end of regulation that would have won the game.

Grade: B-minus

Coaching

Thursday wasn't Tennessee's prettiest effort. But the Vols found a way to respond over and over to force overtime.

Tennessee did it with timely defense and gutsy offense. Heupel went for it twice in overtime on fourth down. Both were the kind of calls you make to win a game because a field goal wasn't getting it done with the way Tennessee and Purdue played.

Grade: B-plus

Game ball

Jeremy Banks

Banks had a penalty on the first series of the game, then was tremendous for the remainder.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee-Purdue report card: Vols do almost enough in Music City Bowl